


Residents and Commuters

by QueenDollopHead



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-03-24 16:47:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3776047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenDollopHead/pseuds/QueenDollopHead
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look into the life of the students at Camelot University and Albion Community College.</p><p>I haven't decided on whether or not this will have more chapters or pairings. Let me know your thoughts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Residents and Commuters

When Arthur slouched into his dark room at about midnight, he was very displeased to find his roommate exactly where he thought he’d be… asleep in bed. He raised his duffel bag to shoulder level and then dropped it on the ground.

Next he tried the light switch, flipping it on and squinting against the sudden rush of fluorescent light.

Still his roommate didn’t stir.

He opened the door as wide as it could go, and then slammed it shut.

That seemed to work, as the still figure jolted at the sound. Arthur grinned, finally! “Lance,” he called, crossing the room to sit on his bed.

Arthur groaned dramatically and looked around his immediate vicinity. Finding nothing useful, he instead reached down to unlace his cleat and then chucked it at his roommate’s back. Lance sat up with a start and turned around, eyes wild. When his gaze finally landed on Arthur, he could see the blond was less than amused. “Good morning,” Arthur piped ironically

“It’s not morning,” Lancelot grumbled as he ran a hand through his hair. He squinted at the brightness of the room that he only now noticed. Unable to block the light he fell back and pulled a pillow over his face. “You blow,” he remarked, muffled by the pillow.

“Why weren’t you at the game?”

Lance stilled momentarily, and then at once he was upright again, staring incredulously at the man. “Our _intramural_ game?”

“Yes, why weren’t you there?”

Lance was normally very laid back. Hell, that’s why Arthur chose to room with him for his sophomore year instead of the blokes he roomed with last year. Gwaine, admittedly, was alright. He and Arthur were good friends, they just… didn’t live well together. For one, Gwaine was a morning person, and he couldn’t understand why no one else was. Val, on the other hand, was simply an ass. Each night he’d bring back a different girl back to the room, and as much as it bothered Arthur, it pissed off Gwaine. The two were constantly arguing about something or other, making the year drag on infinitely.

Amazingly so, Gwaine and Arthur remained friends, in fact, he, Lance, and Arthur play soccer together. Arthur just needed to live with someone who was a little less… boisterous, and Lance’s easy going nature made him the picture of tranquility. Except now, when it was late and Lance was just brutally assaulted in his sleep by flying footwear. That was unacceptable.

“Because it’s _just_ an intramural soccer game, Arthur!” Lance yelled. “And it’s _midnight_!”

“Yes, but the game was at eleven.” Arthur leveled. “Hey! What do you _mean_ just an intramural soccer game? We’re trying to make playoffs!”

“Arthur, intramurals are for fun! We’re not getting any scholarship for going out at ridiculous hours and kicking a ball around,” Lance shook his head. He could not _believe_ that he was having this conversation. Again.

“If it was _just for fun_ then they wouldn’t keep score, and there wouldn’t be a title or a trophy for the best team,” Arthur took off his other cleat and stretched his stiff muscles. He paced over to the mini-fridge at the foot of his bed and took out a bottle of water. He uncapped the bottle and chugged it down before chucking the crushed bottle into the trash bin.

“You’re impossible,” Lance sighed. He knew he couldn’t win. Arthur’s competitiveness was unsurpassed, making no distinction between “serious” and “fun” games. “Besides, we both have an exam tomorrow.” If Arthur heard him, he certainly didn’t show it. Instead he grabbed a clean pair of boxers from his dresser and stripped down, pulling the new ones into place. Carelessly he tossed the damp articles into the laundry basket and jumped into bed. “At _eight thirty_ , which means you can’t sleep in.”

“Lance you and I both know that we’ve gotten by with less sleep than that,” Arthur rolled his eyes. Sometimes Lance was too levelheaded for his own good.

“A _Chemistry midterm_ to be exact, quite frankly we shouldn’t have even _had_ a game tonight,”

“Well, we did, and you missed it. Good job.”

Lance stared at Arthur as the blond was laying on top of his covers, scrolling through his phone. It was hard to argue with Arthur when he was hardly interested. “Did we win?” he asked out of curiosity.

“Of course,” Came his reply with a scoff.

Lance groaned in disbelief. “Then why did you wake me up at midnight to lecture me for not coming?”

Arthur shimmied under his covers before turning to look at his roommate. “You know, Lance, it’s a good thing you don’t have a girlfriend, you really have commitment issues.”

The tired brunette knew better than to respond to him. He lost, whether he was right or wrong, he lost. “How about we just go to sleep so we can get through class tomorrow and head over to Gwaine’s party in the evening?” he suggested.

“Excellent plan,” Arthur agreed with a yawn, turning his back to Lance, who was still sitting up in bed. “Good night,” he called.

Lance frowned at his roommate’s back. “You going to get the light that _you_ turned on?”

“I don’t mind it, thanks, though.”

Lance grumbled under his breath as he threw his covers off and stumbled to the light switch, flipping it off and then pacing back to his bed. He took one last moment to glare at Arthur’s blonde head before begrudgingly climbing back into bed. “Jerk,” he muttered under his breath.

He pretended not to hear a chuckle come from the other bed.

\---

Merlin should have known better than to think he could spend the day studying in the commuter lounge without running into Gwen. Even though Albion Community College had a relatively large campus, it only had two commuter lounges, and Merlin hated the larger one. Even during midterm week it was crowded with wannabe jocks and private school transfers who had nothing better to do than horse around and talk loudly across the room to one another. He had one more exam for the day, and then he could finally go home to his bed and stay there for the duration of the weekend; a foolproof plan.

“Merlin,” Gwen waved as she entered before coming over to perch on the coffee table in front of him. Merlin smiled fondly at her, no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t be annoyed with Gwen popping in during his study period. And he didn’t want to. “How are your exams going?”

Cashing in on the much needed excuse for a break, Merlin stretched before falling back into his seat. “Alright, one more and then I’m done forever.” Gwen giggled at his overstatement before sighing.

“I certainly hope not,” she rifled through Merlin’s papers and open textbook. “Latin exam?”

“Oui.”

“French is not going to help you,”

“Por qué?”

“Spanish either,”

“Gwen, my brain is fried.” Merlin admitted, scratching his head for emphasis.

“You need to unwind!” She urged, gesturing at him.

Merlin cracked his neck before sitting up to look at his friend. “I need an A in Latin,” he corrected her.

“Yes, well-” Gwen was interrupted by a chiming sound, and Merlin instinctively checked his phone, despite him knowing that 1. it was on vibrate and 2. he had no friends.

Okay, he had friends, but one was sitting in front of him and the other two or three were all in exams.

Sure enough, Merlin’s lock screen showed no messages, and when he looked up, Gwen had a big grin on her face. “Merlin, you won’t believe who just texted me!!”

“Tall, dark, and handsome?” he droned.

“Don’t be ridiculous Merlin,” she rolled her eyes. “Morgana, silly!”

“Why wouldn’t I believe that?” Merlin had met Morgana a few times. She was Gwen’s best friend from high school, and although the two were so dramatically different, they were almost inseparable. When Morgana got accepted into Camelot University, the two were crushed, but Gwen financially couldn’t afford to go anywhere else, much like Merlin, and Morgana’s father forbade her from attending a school of any less caliber, so when the choice had to be made, she chose a school that was only about thirty minute drive from Gwen’s house, about an hour from A.C.C..

Gwen bounced with excitement. “ _Because_ she invited us to a party that one of her friends is throwing!”

“That’s a little rude, it’s not her place to invite us if it’s not her party.” It’s not like Merlin didn’t go to parties, or even that he didn’t enjoy them, he just didn’t understand them. Merlin squinted at Gwen as her fingers were already flying across the touchscreen of her phone. “Hey now, I didn’t agree to go!”

Shaking her head as she typed, Gwen continued to beam like a small child. “I’m texting my brother,” she explained. She put her phone down and then scooted forward on the table, almost tipping it over. “Come on, _please?_ It’ll be fun and you have been so tense lately!!”

Merlin sighed, refusing to make eye contact with his persuasive friend. “Sorry, I have a date with my bed tonight. I’ve stood it up twice this week already.”

“Merlin!”

“How would we even get there??” Merlin asked, trying a new angle to talk his friend out of it.

The chiming sound went off again, and Gwen suddenly thrust her phone in his face. “My brother will drive us, as you can see he’s going up tonight as well!” Having a twin brother was rough for Gwen. Between the two of them, Gwen’s father had a hard time supporting them, so when both of his children were ready for college, he could only afford to pay for one. Gwen didn’t apply to any other schools because she knew that her brother Elyan needed University life more than she did. He needed that extra push to excel because unlike Gwen, he did not have it within himself. He got a very small amount of scholarship from Camelot University and decided to commute there to save on the cost of room and board.

Once accepted he scraped up a few jobs and helped their father with the business so that he could afford to go without sending the family into debt. Now Elyan had his life on track, and Gwen was content at Albion Community College.

Merlin challenged Gwen’s triumphant gaze with a stare of his own before sighing in defeat. He snatched the phone out of her hand and turned away from her as he entered her passcode and went straight to her messages. “Hey!” she cried, lunging at him. Merlin swatted at her with one hand while texting with the other. The both of them laughing as Gwen resorted to trying to tickle her friend. When Merlin was finished he handed the now locked phone back to her. “What did you do?” she demanded, still fighting back a breathless giggle.

“I RSVP’ed for the both of us,” he answered, reaching for his book. “What time will you be picking me up?”

Merlin flinched as Gwen squealed, and before he knew it, his book was trapped against chest as she enveloped him in a hug. “You won’t regret it! Thank you so much! We’ll get you eight. Be ready, okay?”

“Okay,” Merlin laughed, patting his friend on the back. “Now let me study for Latin because if I fail I’ll be too busy sulking to go,”

“Right, okay!” Gwen scurried to gather her belongings before kissing him on the cheek and scurrying for the door. “Good luck!” she called. Right before she walked out the doors of the lounge, her phone went off again. Stopping to check it, she frowned at the unamused emoji Morgana had texted back to her. Did Merlin lie to her just now and really tell Morgana that they weren’t going? She unlocked her phone and sighed when she noticed the cause of Morgana’s reaction.

 _“C.U. later ;)”_ Read the most recent text from Gwen’s phone to Morgana’s.

Gwen groaned audibly at the pun- an overused play on the abbreviation for “Camelot University”- and turned around to see Merlin grinning proudly at her. She shook her head at him as she departed the building. Still, she couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face as she typed her reply to Morgana.

_“That was Merlin.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Just found this, apparently wrote it last January. 
> 
> Subscribe, like, or comment if you want more! It's a lot of fun to write even though it's rather shitty. Hope you enjoyed it on some level!


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